Alaska: Records: Miller admits to computer use, lying By BECKY BOHRER (AP) - Alaska GOP Senate hopeful Joe Miller was suspended for three days and referred to an employee assistance program after admitting to improperly using three government computers, then cleaning the caches to cover up the activities, according to personnel records released Tuesday under court order.

The personnel records were obtained by The Associated Press, the Alaska Dispatch, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and the Anchorage Daily News, under open records requests and a subsequent lawsuit. Miller had until Tuesday afternoon to appeal the release, but chose not to.

They were released a week before the hotly contested three-way Senate race.

In a March 2008 statement to Fairbanks North Star Borough Attorney Rene Broker, Miller, who then worked as a part-time government attorney, said he had lied initially about accessing all the computers when asked and about the reasons why he used them.

He said he understood his actions were wrong, that there was "no excuse for any of it," and that he was willing to accept any punishment that was deemed appropriate, according to the records. Broker suspended him for three days and referred him to an employee assistance program, which records show he later completed.

"I appear to be the only candidate in this Senate race whose entire life history matters to the media," Miller said Tuesday in a statement about the release of the records.

He added that the records show that the computer issue and his decision to leave the borough job more than a year later were unrelated.

Miller, who defeated GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska primary, has been dogged for months by questions about his work with the borough, which was a seven-year gap in his resume that he didn't include in his campaign site biography.

The issue bubbled up before the primary, when blogger and Murkowski supporter Andrew Halcro posted a piece on his website that read: "We Know Palin Quit ... But why was Miller Fired? Say it ain't so Joe." - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Alaska: Less oil in Alaska reserve than once thought says USGS - The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 896 million barrels of conventional, undiscovered oil and 53 trillion cubic feet of conventional, undiscovered non-associated gas within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) and adjacent state waters. The estimated volume of undiscovered oil is significantly lower than in 2002, when the USGS estimated there was 10.6 billion barrels of oil. The new estimate, roughly 10% of the 2002 estimate, is due primarily to the incorporation of new data from recent exploration drilling revealing gas occurrence rather than oil in much of NPRA.

Recent activity in NPRA, including 3-D seismic surveys, Federal lease sales administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and drilling of more than 30 exploration wells in the area, provides geologic information that is more indicative of gas than oil. Many of the newly drilled wells show an abrupt transition from oil to gas just 15 to 20 miles west of the giant Alpine field, located just outside the northeastern boundary of NPRA.

“These new findings underscore the challenge of predicting whether oil or gas will be found in frontier areas,” explains USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt. “It is important to re-evaluate the petroleum potential of an area as new data becomes available.”

The new assessment also indicates 8 trillion cubic feet less gas than the 2002 USGS estimate of 61 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, conventional, non-associated gas. Conventional gas refers to gas in discrete accumulations, while non-associated means there is little to no crude oil in the reservoir. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

“Last year more than 1.4 million patients nationally were served by hospice. We wanted to do something special this year and National Hospice/Palliative Care Month seemed like the perfect time to do it,” said Rilo Weisner, Volunteer Hospice Coordinator for KGH. “Each year KGH Volunteer Hospice volunteers help about a dozen patients in SE Alaska.” - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Alaska Science: Discovering the secrets of the master diversBy NED ROZELL -
In the cold waters off northern Alaska, ringed seals dive for cod and shrimp. Sometimes the seals stay beneath the ice for longer than 30 minutes, which is about six times longer than the best human diver. This ability to survive low oxygen levels has intrigued scientists for years, and has inspired a Boston physician to travel to Barrow to learn more.

Ringed seals are master divers that can stay submerged in icy waters for longer than 30 minutes.
Photo by Craig George

Dr. Warren Zapol is the emeritus anesthetist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, a Harvard professor and a member of the United States Arctic Research Commission, the duties of which recently brought him to Fairbanks. He is an expert on the workings of the human respiratory system, and pioneered the treatment of newborns with inhaled nitric oxide, which helps “blue babies” breathe. Royalties from Zapol’s life-saving invention, developed with his Swedish research fellow Claes Frostell, have funded some of his current studies.

“He is the only polar researcher I know whose work has actually saved thousands of lives,” said Larry Hinzman, director of the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Pro Joe Miller By
Glen Thompson - In this year’s US Senate race, Alaska is fortunate to have three fine citizens to choose from. They each bring experience, skill, and aptitude to the table. They are also our friends and neighbors. We should bear this in mind when our political discourse tends to devolve into personal attacks. During my recent six years in elected office, it was rare to find an elected official who put themselves ahead of their constituents. We generally agreed on our desire for success, we just disagreed on how to go about it. Personal attacks merely serve to deflect from the issues and there are not many saints walking amongst us. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Lisa Murkowski By
Ken Arriola - I truly find it hard to believe that Lisa Murkowski's two term tenure in the Senate has earned her the misfortune of being ousted for an all but unknown candidate. - More...
Wednesday - October 27, 2010

MAN UP By David G. Hanger - By concise do you (
Laura Plenert) mean a sound byte that is not visible? Or are you concerned with something that is not quite precise enough for your taste? The devil is in the details, so I am told. It is simple fact, for example, that the leader of a goon squad is also a goon. That is an unfortunate fact in this instance, to be sure, because the man is running for U.S. Senator, but the leader of a goon squad is also a goon. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

What Will Alaskans Remember about November 2nd, 2010? by Ken Bylund - Too many of today's Politicians run for office to initiate a career with the primary objective of keeping that coveted position for life... their product is generally legalized bribery and generating a confused issuance of useless drama. Question - do they represent the people? Have our veterans, past and present, risked their lives and died for this travesty? Did we the people ask for this welfare state, or was it just a scheme to insert a Burmese Monkey Trap into our culture? If we don't learn to let go of the bribe... we will be sharing that cook-pot with the frog. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

RE: Great Job, Seniors By
Judith Green - WOW how nice - life in Ketchikan needs to be at the top of the list of positives for us all. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Ketchikan Packing Company By
Bruce Anderson
- Would anyone have any info on the Ketchikan Packing Company. My grandfather ran it and had an old codfishing schooner- the Fanny Dutard, that he towed behind the Narada between Seattle and Ketchikan with empty cans for the cannery. He also built and had floating salmon traps. - More...
Wednesday AM - October 27, 2010

Joe Miller, the RIGHT Choice By
Sandy Powers - Sometimes I almost wish I were a Democrat. It would be easier to stomach the political articles appearing right and left - but mostly left - in Alaska's media. Newspapers wield an undue amount of influence on political outcomes. And so, misleading headlines such as AP Becky Bohrer's recent "Missteps Cost Miller" are disturbing in their bias. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 26, 2010

Great job, seniors! By
Michael Cron - I would like to take a moment to commend the senior class at Ketchikan High School. This last Thursday, the high school held a pep assembly that included the traditional "senior walk-in," where the seniors enter the gym to cheers and walk around the basketball court a few times. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 26, 2010

Privacy outweighed by public's significant interest By
A. M. Johnson - The "Retired" judge, appointed by Frank Murkowski, rules on a weekend that: "I hold that although Mr. Miller has a legitimate expectation of privacy in those documents, Mr. Miller's right to privacy is indeed outweighed by the public's significant interest in the background of a public figure who is running for the U.S. Senate," the judge said. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 26, 2010

Pro Joe Miller By
Richard Easbey - Amen, Debbie Nance. It's hard to say who should be more ashamed of themselves: Lisa Murkowski for her sleazy attempt to hijack the election, which she lost to Joe Miller fair and square ... or Alaskans who apparently prefer to be welfare queens and stay on the government teat rather than to make Alaska self-sustaining and prosperous. - More...
Tuesday AM - October 26, 2010

Pro Scott McAdams By
Bob McLaughlin,II - If you were one of the voters who turned out in large numbers on Stedman Street for the caucus (2008), to put an end to the Bush/Cheany administration, and turned out to vote in November 08 for President Obama, then you should know what your vote did and how it affects you every day.- More...
Saturday AM - October 23, 2010

"Old school" tax and spend By
Doug Gosnell -
So, Lisa wants to "make history" as a write-in candidate? Of all the republicans now sitting in congress, Lisa has one of the worst conservative voting records. Of 319 house and senate republicans in congress, only 11 had a worse conservative voting record than Lisa. - More...
Friday PM - October 22, 2010

RE: Miller Time By
Laura Plenert -
Mr. Hanger, why can you never be concise in your comments?? And why are you always calling names and blaming others for everything?? Your points might be taken seriously if you weren't always accusing and could keep it to a couple of paragraphs. - More...
Friday PM - October 22, 2010

Pro Joe Miller By
Debbie Nance -
Lisa Murkowski, I have a question. The voters made their choice known and Joe Miller won, yet here you are insisting that you know better. How many other times have you decided you knew better than those you represent??? - More...
Friday PM - October 22, 2010

Write-in Lisa Murkowski By
Lyle Simpson - I am a lifetime Alaskan (over 70 years) and I have never seen a campaign as dishonest as the one launched by Joe Miller. His attacks on Lisa Murkowski misrepresented her stand on issues and then he had the audacity to lie about her financial disclosure claiming that she has investments that actually do not exist. Yet, he has not bothered to file his own disclosure statement which was due 6 months ago. what is Joe hiding? He presents himself as a fiscal conservative yet he used the very system that he rails against when he collected farm subsidies for several years. Joe denied taking subsidies but was forced to admit to them when the facts became known. Where is the transparency he promises? How can Alaskans trust Joe when he has lied so much throughout his campaign. - More...
Thursday AM - October 21, 2010

Write-in Lisa Murkowski By
Olga Simpson - Alaskans need to be united against outside interest groups who are trying to buy our U.S. Senate seat. Thousands of dollars from Californians, Nevadans, Pennsylvanians and many other outsiders are being poured into Joe Miller's campaign for Alaska's Senate seat. Previous involvement from outside groups have prevented us from utilizing our State's natural resources. Once again these OUTSIDERS want to involve themselves in Alaska's business by removing our influential Senator Lisa Murkowski. As a native born Alaskan, she knows ALL of Alaska well. Every vote she has cast during her tenure has been in Alaska's best interest. - More...
Thursday AM - October 21, 2010

KGBSD vs local nonprofits By Agnes Moran
The Ketchikan Gateway School District (KGBSD) has secure sources of funding from the local, state and federal governments. The KGBSD needs to rein in their spending. They need to put off implementing expensive programs such as providing Apple laptops to every high school student until the local economy improves. KGBSD should not be competing with local nonprofits for local charitable resources. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

The Challenge of Fixing Our Economy By
Mary Lynne Dahl - As I think about my vote in the upcoming election, I cannot help but make a few comments. I am neither Democrat nor Republican. I am not impressed with or interested in blasting any candidate. I am a fiscal conservative and a social moderate, for what it's worth. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

Write-in LISA MURKOWSKI By
Vicki Harsha -
It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote my first letter to Sit News asking for answers from either Joe Miller or his supporters. I am still unable to get a response to my questions from his campaign. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

What’s Right For Alaska? By Connie Emmert - Remember how “Hope and Change” turned out to be something other than what Obama’s voters bargained for? I think about that every time I hear Lisa say she’s going to do “what’s right for Alaska”. What does that mean? It’s an ambiguous phrase. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

Write-in LISA MURKOWSKI By
Jonna Cragun - This is my choice. because it's best for Alaska.. and I'm a democrat. The other candidates are too green to get what Alaska needs at the DC level. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

WHO’S REALLY LYING? By
Andy Rauwolf -
Lisa Murkowski has accused Joe Miller of lying about her record and her vote on health care, repeatedly stating that Joe said she voted for the bill. I have searched the Web, including Senator Murkowski’s website, and nowhere can I find a video clip or recording of Joe Miller stating she voted for Obamacare. What Joe has said is taken directly from Lisa’s statements from videos, namely: “It’s not so much that the government run plan is in and of itself a bad thing … what we have to have is a government run plan that actually works.” This and other recorded statements she has made leave little doubt that Lisa Murkowski is supportive of some form of government run health care which will ultimately lead to the end of private sector health insurance. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

MILLER TIME By David G. Hanger -
That short step to jackboots, brownshirts, and storm troopers has now been taken by this nut job, Joe Miller. I think now you can clearly see that what I said then is not in any sense an exaggeration of current circumstance. He has his own hired goons and thugs who now handcuff and kidnap anyone who asks questions of this man who wants to be our Senator, but refuses to answer any questions whatsoever about his past. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

Standing water on the roadway By
Laurie Price -
With monsoon rains of late I have notice more standing water on the highway. It could be an easy fix if the state would muck out the grass and dirt build up from under the guard rails allowing for proper drainage. - More...
Wednesday PM - October 20, 2010

'Personal Responsibility' By
Virginia E. Atkinson -
Bullying in this country is so out of control thanks to too much negative news coverage and all the copy-cats coming out of the woodworks 'cause they have that strong desire for a few minutes of fame and shame. Bullies ought to be treated like any other criminals 'cause it involves individuals harming others around them. - More...
Wednesday PM- October 20, 2010

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